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Central Asian Education Forum set for June 2005

Dushanbe, 5 May, 2005 - The Central Asian Republics and Kazakhstan (CARK) Education Forum will be held in Tajikistan from 6 to 8 June 2005.

Around 120 delegates from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will meet at the Forum in Puguz, near Dushanbe. This will be the first time the forum has been held in Tajikistan.

The CARK Education Forum is an annual meeting of representatives from ministries of education across the subregion and from international organizations working to achieve the goal of Education for All agreed at the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990, and reaffirmed at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal in 2000.

"Access to quality education is a serious concern in relation to education reform in Tajikistan," said Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF representative in Tajikistan. "Tajikistan may not achieve the Millennium Development Goals for education without synchronized efforts by the Government and all international organizations. This is especially important for girls, who are at great risk of missing out on compulsory education."

UNICEF and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization are the major partners of the Ministry of Education in holding the CARK Education Forum. The German Agency for Technical Cooperation, the United States Agency for International Development and the World Bank are also involved.

The main objectives of the Forum are:

To maintain the momentum generated by previous CARK Education Fora, and to ensure systematic and continuous follow-up of global education commitments in the CARK subregion.
To examine the current education reform processes in the subregion, develop partnerships with international agencies and non-governmental organizations and foster inter-country collaboration and exchanges for the achievement of Education for All by the year 2015.
To broaden understanding of and commitment to the right of the child to quality basic education in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Education for All, A World Fit For Children and the Millennium Development Goals.

Participants in the CARK Education Forum will focus on quality and access to education through reform processes. Participants will also discuss education reform experiences, as well as global and Central Asian education priorities. The deputy minister of education of Tajikistan will lead a thematic working group on the education of girls, a top priority of Tajikistan.

With the support of UNICEF, the first CARK Education Forum website has been created, enabling ministries of education in the five Central Asian countries to exchange opinions and information. Visit: http://www.carkforum.tj

"UNICEF will continue to support the Government of Tajikistan in its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All Goals," says Mokuo. "Personally from my side, I am joining my hopes to the hopes of all Tajik children that they will all have access to a good quality education so that they can reach their full potential on life."

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